Night Train Murders – 88 Films

Director: Aldo Lado
Screenplay: Roberto Infascelli, Renato Izzo, Aldo Lado and Ettore Sanzò
Starring: Flavio Bucci, Macha Méril, Marina Berti, Irene Miracle, Gianfranco De Grassi and Laura D’Angelo
Country: Italy
Running Time: 94 min
Year: 1975

As an Italian genre head, I’m ashamed to admit that before this review, I’d never seen a film by cult maestro Aldo Lado, director of Short Night of Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die? and perhaps his most notorious of all, Night Train Murders. The latter was one that I’d been putting off for quite some time, primarily due to my mixed opinions on the rape revenge genre, and hearing how graphic the film was had made me cautious about visiting it. However, when 88 Films announced that they were reissuing the film, giving it its UK UHD debut, I figured that now was the perfect opportunity to dive into the world of Aldo Lado and see if the film’s reputation was justified. 

Night Train Murders follows two friends who end up travelling on a train around Christmas time, who end up being assaulted by a trio of revolting criminals. Sound familiar? Well, it’s probably because aside from the setting of the train, it’s incredibly similar to another popular rape revenge film from the 70s, Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left (a film which I have extremely complicated feelings on). The thing that surprised me the most about Night Train Murders is the pacing. It takes its time before any of the real horror begins, almost as an attempt to subvert the brash, vulgar nature of Last House’s initial premise. It gives the viewers some time to root for and care about our leads, in ways that most of these films typically don’t. 

The assault in question is also done more tastefully than I expected. It’ll depend on each viewer on whether or not they think the film takes it too far, of course, and as previously mentioned, I’ve never been huge on the genre in question, but it’s executed in a way that doesn’t titillate, which impressed me. It’s hard not to praise how uncomfortable and menacing the whole ordeal is, but again, it’d be difficult to make a scene of this nature not feel menacing or disturbing. Thankfully, it doesn’t go to the depraved lengths or something like I Spit on Your Grave, which I was pleasantly surprised by. I also appreciated the cutting back and forth between the assault and a dinner conversation regarding violence, it’s surprisingly thought-provoking and has more on its mind than most fare in this sub-genre.

As a genre film, it’s undeniable that Lado’s direction is impressive. Compared to the haphazard filmmaking presented in a film like The Last House on the Left, there’s excellent shot composition throughout, it’s gorgeously lit (and looks stunning in native 4K) and the performances themselves aren’t too bad either. The two leads, Lisa and Margaret are likeable, and it only makes their fates all the more tragic. The film’s score is also composed by Ennio Morricone, who delivers an unforgettable series of compositions, as expected. By all accounts, it’s one of the most well-made films in the rape revenge genre I’ve watched, especially from this period. 

It begs the question, if it’s well-made, does that still make it enjoyable or worthwhile to check out? Well, it depends entirely on who’s watching. I can admire so many of the technical elements on display and it’s clear that Lado didn’t just want to capitalize on the success of Craven’s classic, instead injecting his own themes and social commentary into the film, as well as crafting a film that’s extremely impressive on a technical level. 

As far as films in this genre go, it’s one of the best out there, but I still have my reservations about it. It’s a little too unpleasant for my tastes and not one that I’ll be racing to rewatch, but I’m glad I’ve finally checked out a film from Lado, as he seems to be one of the more impressive genre filmmakers from this period of Italian filmmaking.

When Night Train Murders was submitted for release over here in the UK, it was rejected and labelled as one of the notorious video nasties, banned until the mid 2000s. This brand new 88 Films UHD/Blu-ray release, as well as their previous, present the film in its uncut form, which should excite fans of genre films that tend to get worried when a film with severe subject matter may or may not get tampered with by the BBFC. 

Do I recommend Night Train Murders? Well, kind of. It’s a solid genre film that’s unpleasant by design, and not something that you’re going to watch with your mum (hopefully, anyway!) but as somebody who loves checking off notorious genre films and video nasties off the watchlist, I can’t say I was let down by the film. It’s not something I can see myself revisiting, but those fascinated by the genre, Italian cinema of this era and video nasties will probably find something to appreciate about the film. 

Film:

Night Train Murders releases on 4K UHD and Blu-ray via 88 Films on May 12th. The film was previously released as film #1 in 88 Films’ iconic Italian Collection, and this release adds hours of brand new extras and sports a new 4K restoration from the original negatives. I viewed the UHD disc for the feature and the Blu-ray disc for the extras. The 4K disc looks absolutely gorgeous, sporting extremely high bit-rates consistently throughout the 94 minute runtime, and the Dolby Vision HDR grade compliments the film nicely. After briefly checking out the Blu-ray transfer, while it still looks great, the added benefits of the higher resolution and the HDR make the UHD version the version to go for. It’s quite a stylised film too, so the format is able to take advantage of some of the gorgeous moments of lighting. Audio wise, there’s two options, an English 2.0 LPCM mono track, and an Italian 2.0 LPCM mono track with English subtitles. Optional SDH subtitles are included for the English dub too, which is how I viewed the film and thought it sounded great. The Italian mix sounds solid too, but given that most of these films were dubbed after the fact, I tend to prefer the English tracks. All in all, it’s a solid A/V presentation from 88 Films who continue to impress with their UHD upgrades of previous released titles. Great stuff! The following extras are included. 

Brand New 4K remaster from the Original Negatives presented in Ultra High Definition (2160P) in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio

Presented in Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR10 Compatible)

High Definition (1080P) Blu-Ray In 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio also included

English 2.0 LPCM Mono with Optional SDH Subtitles

Italian 2.0 LPCM mono with newly translated English subtitles

Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Eugenio Ercolani and Dr. Marcus Stiglegger

Class and Carriage Violence – An interview with director Aldo Lado

A Lady Above Suspicion – An Interview with actress Macha Méril

All About Lado – A Career Retrospective

The Most Heinous of Crimes – A Brief Introduction to the Italian Rape and Revenge Film – Featuring Ruggero Deodato, Zora Kerova and Corinne Cléry

A Train of Thought – A Video Essay by Mike Foster

On the Brink of Anarchy – The Coalescence of Sex and Power in Night Train Murders by Andrew Marshall-Roberts

Late Night Train Murders – Interview with Expert Stephen Thrower

Strangers on a [Late Night] Train – An interview with actress Irene Miracle

Further Adventures in Italy with Irene Miracle

Last Stop on the Night Train Trailer

English Trailer

Stills Gallery

INCLUDES PERFECT BOUND BOOK WITH ARTICLES FROM FRANCESCO MASSACCESI, RACHAEL NISBET AND JAMES OLIVER & ARTCARD

The brand new audio commentary with Eugenio Ercolani and Dr. Marcus Stiglegger, exclusive to this release, is a good listen. The pair dive into all of the information that you’d expect from a commentary of this nature, diving into the shooting locations, the production as a whole, the handful of issues that the film had with distribution and censorship, and more. It’s an engaging track that’ll only help grow your appreciation for the film more.

Class and Carriage Violence is an interview with director Aldo Lado, discussing his career, and of course, Night Train Murders in this 22 minute piece. He sports an interesting hat throughout as he’s open and honest about being unsatisfied by some of his earlier output and describes the inspirations behind Night Train Murders is this pretty good interview. 

A Lady Above Suspicion is a brand new interview with actress Macha Méril, running for 33 minutes as she reminisces about the production of Night Train Murders, her time working with Aldo Lado, how the screenplay drew her to the project and highlighting how well shot the film was by its director of photography. It’s an upbeat, energetic and insightful interview, where Méril delightfully talks about film as a whole. 

All About Lado – A Career Retrospective is a brand new 32 minute retrospective on the career of Aldo Lado, by the man himself .It’s laid back, starting with what drew Lado to the world of filmmaking at a young age, the troubles he had with some of his films and more. There’s a great story early on about how while he was working on a film set, he ended up being the assistant director for the majority of a picture, which I found amusing. It’s another solid extra, diving into the work of a filmmaker who doesn’t tend to get as much attention as his contemporaries.  

The Most Heinous of Crimes – A Brief Introduction to the Italian Rape and Revenge Film is a 33 minute video essay featuring interviews with Ruggero Deodato, Zora Kerova and Corinne Cléry, diving into the world of rape revenge cinema. Narrated by Troy Howarth, it dives into all aspects of the genre, talking about the early films in the genre like The Virgin Spring, The Last House on the Left and how it influenced Italian filmmakers, who made some of the most notorious films in the genre. Night Train Murders is discussed, of course, but also the films starring David Hess, the face of many of these films. It’s a great little essay, well researched and engaging throughout the lengthy runtime. One of the best extras on the disc!

A Train of Thought is a 18 minute video essay by Mike Foster, who begins by describing the countless titles that the film has, before discussing the rape revenge genre in a different perspective from the previous Troy Howarth essay. It’s quite an honest essay, focusing on the themes of Night Train Murders and comparing it to The Last House on the Left. It’s another solid video essay that’s worth checking out.

On the Brink of Anarchy – The Coalescence of Sex and Power in Night Train Murders is a video essay by Andrew Marshall-Roberts, running for 22 minutes and it’s another solid watch. While it begins in a similar fashion to the other essays included here, it dives into the sexual themes in the film, while also highlighting the power dynamics present throughout. Another fascinating video essay that’s worth your time.

Late Night Train Murders is a brand new 28 minute appreciation with Stephen Thrower, and anybody familiar with Thrower’s previous work will be beyond pleased with this extra. As usual, Thrower’s knowledge on cinema, Aldo Lado and Night Train Murders itself is commendable. It talks about the censorship issues that the film faced, its multiple titles and releases across the world, as well as the similarities to The Last House on the Left. A must watch appreciation!

Strangers on a [Late Night] Train is an archival interview with actress Irene Miracle, running for 21 minutes and features Irene recounting her times working on the film in a fairly light-hearted and humorous manner. She talks about the difficulties with the more demented content in the film, but highlights that she felt safe during the production, which is great to hear. It’s a solid interview.

Further Adventures in Italy with Irene Miracle is a four minute addition to Irene’s prior interview, talking about the subsequent Italian films that she made after Night Train Murders. It’s a nice addition, although it would have made sense to include this in the prior interview.

Two trailers are included, a Last Stop on the Night Train trailer as well as an English trailer, alongside a stills gallery. 

I wasn’t provided with the limited edition extras, such as the booklet, packaging or art card. 

Night Train Murders was a conflicting watch, because even though I didn’t have many issues with it overall, it was something that wasn’t entirely up my alley. The new 88 Films release offers the best presentation for the film yet, with an excellent array of supplemental content that dives into the film’s themes, offers unique retrospectives of the director’s career and more. Still, it’s a tough sell because of the content. If you’re in the mood for something depraved, but well crafted, check this one out.

Disc/Packaging:

Where to watch Night Train Murders